In Durban, governments decided to adopt a universal legal agreement on climate change as soon as possible, but not later than 2015. Work will begin on this immediately under a new group called the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action. Governments, including 35 industrialised countries, agreed a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol from January 1, 2013. To achieve rapid clarity, Parties to this second period will turn their economy-wide targets into quantified emission limitation or reduction objectives and submit them for review by May 1, 2012.
The purpose of the CLIMATE VOTE PROJECT is to challenge worldwide governments at the UN Climate Conference (COP 18 - CMP 8) in Doha, Qatar from 26 Nov. to 7 Dec. 2012 in order to set the course for the conclusion of a comprehensive, legally binding climate protection agreement for the time after 2012. It is hoped that 10 million Facebook users will add weight and coherence to this demand. The CLIMATE VOTE PROJECT demands, above all, the stringent implementation of the following points in this successor agreement:
1. To ensure that global warming stays well below 2 degrees Celsius, the industrialised nations must commit themselves to far more drastic reductions in emissions than in the first Kyoto period.
2. This time the new agreement must include the United States of America, which signed the first Kyoto Protocol but did not ratify it.
3. To encourage India and China to take part with appropriate targets for Kyoto Phase Two, the industrialised nations need to achieve demonstrable progress in the absolute reduction of their greenhouse gas emissions.